A Murder of Two
by Dracul The Mad
Summary: The title is a play on words, the meaning of which shall be revealed in later chapters.
1. Prologue: What Has Gone Before.

Author Notes:  
This is the first piece of fiction I have felt like sharing. Please Review after reading. No need to spare my feelings, my cynical outlook on life shall protect me from any harsh words. 
    
    
    **A Murder of Two**
    Prologue
    Jusendo, Bayankala, China.
    It seemed so unfair. The same thought was at the forefront of
    all their minds. Even Shampoo, who had a definite motive to wish ill for
    Akane, felt it was unjust that the water was too late. Ranma had fought
    so hard, he had killed a *god*. Truly, the world was a cruel place not
    to reward such valor with success.
    There wasn't anything that could be said. Even Ranma was beyond
    words. He rocked back and forth slightly, cradling the unmoving form
    Akane. He sobbed uncontrollably, mumbling incoherently into her wet
    hair. It tore at the heart, to watch him. He grieved with the same force
    with which he had fought so shortly ago.
    Eventually his cries grew quiet. He stopped his rocking and lay
    still. He did not make any move to draw away from Akane, or any motion
    at all.
    It was Ryouga who finally moved forward, perhaps to offer some
    comfort, or to make some mournful overtore himself. It wasn't immediately
    obvious which, because he stopped shortly after stepping forward. The
    only sound he made was a choked exclamation of horror.
    It brushed across his skin like a gentle breeze, and left the
    faintest tingle in his extremities. He noticed the others react to it
    out of the corner of his eyes. They withdrew a little more into
    themselves, or the tears flowed a little more freely. None of them
    detected it except him.
    Now that he knew to look for it, it was obvious. It hung all
    around him like a smothering cloak, strong enough to rob him of his
    breath. A faint flicker of green light sparked off Ranma to skitter
    across the ground and disappear. No one else saw it, the others were to
    far away and Ranma was beyond caring. Ice danced up his spine when he
    realized what it meant.
    "Run"
    The first time all he could force out was a hoarse whisper past
    the lump in his throat. The others were trained martial artists
    thankfully, and turned from the tragedy to look at him. The fear on his
    face was easily noticeable.
    "We need to get of here!"
    This time was louder, but he still failed to convey the gut
    wrenching urgency he felt. That sixth sense for danger that all martial
    artists hoped to achieve was screaming at him, vibrating in his very
    bones. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. The others were
    looking at him like he had grown a second head. Shampoo's face was
    twisting into a scowl, like she was going to say something.
    It felt like he was moving through water as he turned back to
    point at the pigtailed martial artist. Ranma lay there motionless. By
    the time his finger lined up with his form, the green flashes where
    happening often enough and with enough strength to be visible.
    "The lion!"
    The words came out with enough force to be heard over the
    thrumming hum that started at the edge of hearing. Soon after they
    left his mouth, there was a loud *crack* that corresponded to a large
    stalactite falling from what was left of the roof. Some of the smaller
    pebbles strewn over the caverns floor had already started to shake and
    roll away from where the two kneeled.
    They figured it out, and everyone present who felt like living
    fled swiftly down the mountain as quickly as they could.
    He ran. Something deep inside him wanted to continue on, despite
    the loss of Akane. Even that great gnawing pain was driven away by his
    unwillingness to die. He wondered at that, even as he slid down the
    mountainside. he felt pain greater than anything he had ever imagined.
    But he knew that it wasnt his own, but rather a pale resonance of
    another with his ruefull nature.
    So he kept running, and hoped he would make it to safety in
    time. He turned his back on Akane, and left, and Ranma stayed. Ryouga
    could feel it know, the misery of his onetime rival as Ranma forced it
    upon the world around him. It built rapidly.
    He reached the bottom of the mountain, and finally began to put
    distance between him and the approaching cataclysm. His panicked strides
    ate up the ground rapidly.
    Finally, the feeling of gut wrenching despair slowly faded from
    the air around him. Almost immediately, the sense of impending doom left as
    well. He kept running for a short distance more just too make sure
    before he turned around.
    The mountain loomed above him. He had to crane his neck back to
    see the top. He stared at the crackling green tempest surrounding it.
    They must have ran at least five miles. Everyone else had alread fallen
    in a heap when he had stopped ruunning. Seeing them, the stabbing pain
    from his legs suddenly came to the fore, and he collapsed.
    "Stupid Mousse! Shampoo no need your help."
    Her voice was weak, and didnt seem very relevant, since the
    object of her belated ire was quickly sucumbing to unconciousness.
    Apparently he must have carried the exhausted amazon the last quarter
    mile after she had collapsed. Ryouga tried to force his shrieking
    muscles to obey his will, to sit up, perhaps so he could say something
    to defend the poor sap.
    Before he could say anything at all, the mountain of jusendo
    exploded. A flash of green light blinded all present, moments after a
    screaming wail clawed at their ears, interspersed with loud crashings of
    stone on stone. Gravel blasted them all, raising welts even on his skin,
    and deep bloody gouges on the others. Then something struck him on the
    head, hard. Everything faded to black.
    He came to, much later. Unsuprisingly he was the first to
    awaken. Despite his hardened body and great distance, that hellish blast
    had left him with a body covered in bruises and a splitting head ache.
    It was a feeling not too disimilar than being on the recieving end of a
    hiryu shoten ha.
    Most of the others were in much worse shape. Mousse had somehow
    managed to shield Shampoo from the blast, despite his already weakend
    state. The boys white robes were now stained red, and his back was a
    bloody mess. Despite this the Amazon champion had taken blow to the
    head from a large rock that had left a deep cut along the side of her
    head. Thankfully as first glance her head still seemed to be in one
    piece.
    The worthless panda, Genma had demonstrated his finely honed
    skills of self-preservation by findinf what must have been the only safe
    spot for a hundred meters. He had taken shelter in a slight depression.
    Despite this, he was still missing most of his fur.
    Since none of his comrades seemed to be in immediate danger, he
    finally looked towards the mountain. Rather, where the mountain had
    been. What remained looked like a melted candle stump, there was barely
    enough left to be called a foothill. Even from here, the heat that had
    melted the rock was still enough to make his skin tingle.
    There was no way Ranma could have survived that. Even if the
    willess state of the shishi hokko dan had spared him from the hellish
    energy he himself had spawned, the melting rock would have done to
    finish him off.
    "My god, its worse than Mt. Terror"
    ***
    He hadn't opened his eyes but he knew was in Heaven. That was the
    only possible explanation for the complete absence of pain. Even the
    everyday aches and pains associated with living seemed to have faded into
    the distance. The gaping absence at the center of his soul was gone, filled
    with a crimson light that he had not missed until it had been torn away.
    He knew what he was going to see before he opened his eyes. He was
    not disappointed. Leaning over his supine form was Akane, her beautiful
    black hair falling across her face to shade it from the setting sun. She
    was saying something to him, but he was too wrapped up in watching her
    speak for it too make any sense.
    "OUCH!"
    A stinging slap to the face served to get his attention however.
    


	2. Chapter 1: The Start of a New Story.

  


Author Notes:  
This chapter took me much longer than I thought it was going to. I haven't actually done a (very)thorough editing of it, but im posting it anyways. 
    
    
    **A Murder of Two**
    Chapter 1, The Start of a New Story.
    Jusendo, Bayankala, China.
    ***
    "Has there been any sign of Lord Saffron since the battle,
    Captain Kima?" The old man forced his question out before succumbing to
    a coughing fit. His robes were dripping wet. So were Kima's.
    "No sire, nor has there been any sign of the particular landling
    he did battle with." She had been forced to stay in her cursed form.
    There wasn't a dry place in all of phoenix mountain, the entire place
    had been deluged with ice water from deep within the mountain. She had
    changed back into her natural shape several times, only to be quickly
    drenched by a new leak.
    "That is most disturbing, he should have been reborn some time
    ago." This time the coughing fit doubled him over for several minutes.
    Kima desperately hoped the smudge of red on his hand wasn't what she
    thought it was.
    ***
    Koruma and Masara were on patrol. Which wasn't a lot of fun, but
    that was all right, because nobody was having much fun with Mt. Phoenix
    currently being so unliveable. Flying in search patterns until there
    wings ached, beat walking up and down huge flights of stairs, since they
    couldn't fly with their curses.
    "Kikiki, this really sucks, Koruma."
    "Kakaka, No argument from me, Masara. I'm starting to wonder if
    we will ever find Lord Saffron." His partner stated, before going back
    to peering at the ground as it passed below.
    A phoenix egg was vibrantly colored, and they had been told they
    couldn't miss it. So they completely overlooked the pair of mottled
    blue-green shapes tucked into a rocky depression. Surrounded by rubble,
    speckles of grey broke up their smooth outline and made them fade into
    the barren stone.
    ***
    It had been dark. The warmth that had been pleasant until that
    moment had suddenly become stifling. The comforting closeness had
    twisted into a clinging grasp that pulled at her. She had fought. She
    could barely move, her surroundings conspiring to hold her motionless.
    Striking out as hard as she could with what little leverage she had, to
    feel something give.
    It had been only a crack, at first. Blessed light had come
    pouring into her dark little world. Frantic with desperation and the
    beginnings of hope she had continued struggling. Finally she came back to
    herself, exhausted and breathless.
    She had found herself to be sprawled on hands and knees amidst a
    gallery of pale white shards. Then she had turned to see Ranma sprawled
    out in his own pile of goo and debris. Eggshards, what they were came to
    her like a stunning blow. They had just hatched from giant eggs. Which
    made a twisted kind of sense, because now they both had wings, just like
    birds.
    ***
    "Ouch!"
    The stinging slap served to get his attention.
    "What the hell are you staring at, pervert!"
    He had never thought a scathing rebuke could make him feel so
    happy. The only thing that bothered him was that he didn't have a clue
    what she was pissed about this time. Normally when she started in on him
    she made it quite clear what he had done wrong. He looked around, hoping
    to find a clue, but the only things he saw were countryside and oddly
    shaped shards of rock.
     Akane was covered from head to toe in shiny goo that clung to
    her form, dripping off in some places. Ranma did a double take. Aside
    from the clear gel, she was completely naked. He felt faint, the sight
    of her nude body so close quickly crowded out rational thought and stole
    his breath away.
    Ranma suddenly realized that he was in the same unclothed state
    as she was. Unfortunately, Akane chose that same moment to glance down.
    He tried to say something, but his tongue was even more confused than
    his mind. His sputtered denials didn't help his situation at all.
    Considering the circumstances, calling her unsexy seemed stupid, even to
    him. Her full body blush was promptly followed by a swift right hook
    smashing into his face.
    "Ranma no Baka!"
    It took him a few moments to shake of the effects of her punch.
    He could not summon the effort to stand, and instead lay flat with his
    cheek pressed against the cool stone. Either Akane had been training
    when he wasn't looking or he was weaker than he had felt after taking
    out Saffron. When he tried to sit back up, the world seemed to tilt and
    sway.
    "Ranma? Are you ok?"
    He knew that voice, but it seemed so very far away at the
    moment. Whoever it was must surely be distant enough for him to rest a
    short while. If they wanted to talk to him badly enough, they would
    come closer. He could talk to them then.
    "Damnit Ranma, wake up!"
    Akane was upset about something. Her shouts were too far removed
    for her to be shouting at him, though. She always made sure to get in
    real close so she could scream in his face. Because of that, the pain
    that normally followed such confrontations was always bound up in his
    mind with other thoughts.
    She was beautiful when she was angry. In her fury she always
    cast aside her mask of a demure young girl. She would throw her whole
    body into her movements. It made her short hair fly around like it was
    whipped by some fierce wind. The way her face flushed when she
    shouted... The way her feathery black wings smote at the air around
    her... Wait a minute, Wings?!
    Akane was worried. Ranma wasn't bouncing back like he always had
    before. Instead he was laid out on his stomach. The left side of his
    face was becoming swollen, and instead of telling her what the hell was
    going on, he was staring at the wings on her back, as if he didn't
    suddenly have a pair of his own.
    "Ranma, what the hell is going on!? The last thing I remember
    is... um"
    The last thing she remembered was being cradled in his arms
    while he sobbed. She had tried so hard to reach out to him, but she
    couldn't fight past the iron grip of paralysis. Thinking about being
    held like that, with neither of them having clothes on at the moment
    sent her thoughts skittering away.
    Ranma struggled to his feet. He swayed on his feet for a moment
    before saggering towards her on unsteady legs. She matched his movement
    with a few hesitant steps away from him. His eyes were wild, and the
    side of his head was now an ugly purple color. He was covered in the
    same goo as she was, and the way it matted his hair and dripped off his
    face temporarily lent him a monstrous aspect.
    "Akane!"
    The pain rang in his voice and trembled across the space between
    them. It was the same tone of desperation he had used before at Jusendo,
    what seemed only moments ago. This time she embraced him, and he fell
    into her arms and sobbed uncontrollably. He clutched at her as if she
    would disappear in the next instant, and this time, she could hug him
    back, and mumble a few comforting words to make the pain go away.
    So she did.
    ***
    A cold breeze broke the mood. The wind seemed to cut through
    whatever protection the goop was supposed to offer. Goosebumps broke out
    over both their flesh. What really broke the mood was the way twin
    shivers reminded them of their intimate proximity. They both leapt back
    with a blush and a small 'Eep'.
    The wind lead her to look up, to find the clear blue sky quickly
    filling with ugly looking storm clouds.
    Unfortunately, the sudden motion almost caused Ranma to fall
    down. As it was, he clutched at his head in agony. Seeing him wrapped up
    in his own agony, Akane grabbed his elbow and carefully walked over to
    the treeline downslope, hoping to find some shelter from the
    increasingly inclement weather.
    So they stumbled through chinese forest, avoiding the frequent
    thickets of bamboo too thick to go through. Ranma might have known what
    to do, but he wasn't in any condition to help. He could barely stand and
    walk, with a great deal of help from Akane.
    They wandered through the woods aimlessly. Akane had spent
    most of her life in one of the worlds largest cities. Even with the
    rare training trip, and the isolated camping excursion with friends, she
    was far from accomplished in woodscraft.
    Now she was completely naked in the middle of one of the most
    vast wildernesses in china. Whatever help Ranma could have offered was
    negated by his continued disorientation and frequent bouts of nausea.
    She was feeling guilty. The bruise on his face had faded only
    slightly, most of his face was still swollen and discolored. Every time
    she looked at it, every stumble and each of his dry heaves stabbed icy
    finger of remorse and concern into her heart.
    So with Ranma dealing with a concussion, and Akane caught up in
    her own thoughts, they moved off into the woods. Perhaps getting
    completely lost shouldn't have been such a surprise.
    ***
    


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